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Geology topics

J. Hunt

Publications and source records attributed to J. Hunt.

5 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2007

Patterns and trends in sediment toxicity in the San Francisco Estuary

Widespread sediment toxicity has been documented throughout the San Francisco Estuary since the mid-1980s. Studies conducted in the early 1990s as part of the Bay Protection and Toxic Cleanup Program (BPTCP), and more recently as part of the Regional Monitoring Program (RMP) have continued to find sediment toxicity in the Estuary. Results of these studies have shown a number of sediment toxic hotspots located at selected sites in the margins of the Estuary. Recent RMP monitoring has indicated that the magnitude and frequency of sediment toxicity is greater in the winter wet season than in the summer dry season, which suggests stormwater inputs are associated with sediment toxicity. Additionally, spatial trends in sediment toxicity data indicate that toxic sediments are associated with inputs from urban creeks surrounding the Estuary, and from Central Valley rivers entering the northern Estuary via the Delta. Sediment toxicity has been correlated with a number of contaminants, including selected metals, PAHs and organochlorine pesticides. While toxicity identification evaluations (TIEs) suggest that metals are the primary cause of sediment toxicity to bivalve embryos; TIEs conducted with amphipods have been inconclusive. ?? 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Environmental Research↗
USGS2007

Biological effects of anthropogenic contaminants in the San Francisco Estuary

Concentrations of many anthropogenic contaminants in the San Francisco Estuary exist at levels that have been associated with biological effects elsewhere, so there is a potential for them to cause biological effects in the Estuary. The purpose of this paper is to summarize information about biological effects on the Estuary's plankton, benthos, fish, birds, and mammals, gathered since the early 1990s, focusing on key accomplishments. These studies have been conducted at all levels of biological organization (sub-cellular through communities), but have included only a small fraction of the organisms and contaminants of concern in the region. The studies summarized provide a body of evidence that some contaminants are causing biological impacts in some biological resources in the Estuary. However, no general patterns of effects were apparent in space and time, and no single contaminant was consistently related to effects among the biota considered. These conclusions reflect the difficulty in demonstrating biological effects due specifically to contamination because there is a wide range of sensitivity to contaminants among the Estuary's many organisms. Additionally, the spatial and temporal distribution of contamination in the Estuary is highly variable, and levels of contamination covary with other environmental factors, such as freshwater inflow or sediment-type. Federal and State regulatory agencies desire to develop biological criteria to protect the Estuary's biological resources. Future studies of biological effects in San Francisco Estuary should focus on the development of meaningful indicators of biological effects, and on key organism and contaminants of concern in long-term, multifaceted studies that include laboratory and field experiments to determine cause and effect to adequately inform management and regulatory decisions.

California↗
USGS2001

Late Quaternary environmental change in the Bonneville basin, western USA

Excavation and analyses of small animal remains from stratified raptor deposits spanning the last 11.5 ka, together with collection and analysis of over 60 dated fossil woodrat midden samples spanning the last 50 ka, provide a detailed record of changing climate in the eastern Great Basin during the late Pleistocene and Holocene. Sagebrush steppe dominated the northern Bonneville basin during the Full Glacial, suggesting that conditions were cold and relatively dry, in contrast to the southern basin, which was also cold but moister. Limber pine woodlands dominated ???13-11.5 ka, indicating increased dryness and summer temperatures ???6-7??C cooler than present. This drying trend accelerated after ???11.5 ka causing Lake Bonneville to drop rapidly, eliminating 11 species of fish from the lake. From ???11.5-8.2 ka xerophytic sagebrush and shadscale scrub replaced more mesophilic shrubs in a step-wise fashion. A variety of small mammals and plants indicate the early Holocene was ???3??C cooler and moister than at present, not warmer as suggested by a number of climatic models. The diversity of plants and animals changed dramatically after 8.2 ka as many species disappeared from the record. Some of the upland species returned after ???4 ka and Great Salt Lake became fresh enough at ???3.4 and ???1.2 ka to support populations of Utah chub. ?? 2001 Elsevier Science B.V.

Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology↗